The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

Chapter 29 (Angel of Death)

Martin flipped off the screen after he saw Aveline reunite with her mother, he was both thrilled and upset. He'd just witnessed he death of his second uncle and aunt, and wasn't sure where Aunt Erin was now. It was premature, Aveline's going to help Noak, but he understood it couldn't be helped.

Beside him on the couch was a Bible that Aveline told him to use, she instructed him of the location and of the passages to read. He frankly already believed in everything, but what truly terrified him was thinking it was far too late for him. If Aveline was attempting to save his soul, then surely it was far too late to do so. He moved his eyes up from the book, groaning as all the passages he read over the night threw his mind into various directions. He'd read about doubts, about forgiveness and prayer, as well as many other things that he didn't have the ability to question. He wanted to pray, but the question remained, would God even hear him? What were the chances of such a thing happening? He already felt a darkening sense of death's grip at his throat, strangling the life from him. Death would be better than the hell he was living in now, but he didn't want to do the deed himself. He didn't have the capability.

He feared Aveline knew too much now, so much that she wouldn't actually kill him when it was time for their fight. This was a major issue. "Martin?" He froze at the sound of Aunt Erin's voice and quickly turned around, staring at her with wide eyes. This couldn't be! She couldn't be here! His heart began racing as the woman's fiery glare burned into him. He stood up and took a slight step backwards, studying her nails with growing anxiety. Those nails were like claws to him. He could feel them already burning his body, raking him like a gardener rakes the leaves in the fall. Chills ran down his body as the woman slowly walked towards him. "How come you killed my son, Martin? Also, where the hell is Mala?" Mala was gone? His heart sank as he looked towards the room Mala had gone into a day or two ago. He hadn't seen her since, or even thought to check up on her, only because he wanted to give her space. "That little witch transported me into one of those cells. Of course, Chuck released me…" He pocketed his hands, still eyeing her nails fearfully. Right, Chuck was down in the lowest dungeon floor, guarding Frankie and Karin. "Good thing…"

"Why is that?"

"Because apparently you let your little girlfriend slip away!" She slapped him across the face, flooring him. He clenched his eyes shut as several dark memories flashed back through his mind. His chest throbbed as his ribs began to crack against his heart's incessant beating. His cheek burned, bleeding from the contact of her pointed nails digging through his flesh. "Go retrieve the fucking girl, Martin. You know she's our responsibility." He honestly didn't care, he hadn't wanted Mala to be involved in this mess anyway! "And I think you know what I'll do to you if you let her away again. I don't care if your father is dead, or if the mafia did kill your mother, you're still a part of this family and you have to do what we tell you to, like it or not."

"She doesn't need to be stuck here, leave her be…" Not like this, he didn't want to subject Mala to Erin's wrath. He put his hand to his cheek, shivering as his eyes moved to the bible on the couch. "Why can't you just end it, God? Why? Please just do something…get me out of this hellhole!" He felt Erin grab his thighs, then dig her claws in. Searing pain shot through him as tears burned his eyes and a scream left his lips. Flashbacks of prior assaults from his aunt scalded his brain, torturing him out of any chance of fighting her. "Okay! Okay I'll get her back, just stop it please Erin." Why was Mala so important to this family? He just didn't get it. Sure, Brustrum forced her to be with them, but she should be free to do whatever the hell she wanted, didn't she? It couldn't be helped, he had to bring Mala back otherwise they both would be in serious trouble. He'd hoped that Erin would have still been in Chicago, far away from him, but no, that witch just had to summon her back here!

"That's what I like to hear, Marty. Good boy…"

Mala stretched her arms out with a loud yawn as she woke with the morning light shining on her face. She was sleeping in the bedroom that belonged to Odo, who still hadn't returned from wherever he'd gone off to. However, the prior night, Art had managed to get ahold of him. The man said he'd come back in after everything was over. He felt safer with his family at the moment, and was too scared to go back with the risk that Martin might come around.

For the first time, Mala wasn't afraid of Martin. Art let her have a relaxing bath the night before, and set some fresh steamed towels for her to dry off with. It was the most treatment she'd been given in her entire life, and she didn't have to fear Martin's family coming after her! She slowly sat up and looked to the door, it was closed as she always preferred doors to be. Over the years with Martin's family, she learned the benefit of closed doors, it signaled her to be prepared when she heard the doorknobs jiggle. She smiled and closed her eyes, breathing out softly. "Thank you for a quiet night of sleep…"

She got up from the bed and moved over to the door, pushing it open and letting the brightness of the day fall upon her. The scent of freshly baked cinnamon drifted to her nostrils and she immediately charged into the kitchen where Art was setting down a plate of cinnamon rolls. "Oh my god, you made those?" Art looked up at her with a subtle smirk and nodded his head.

"With a little help from the Pillsbury Doughboy. We had a chat and decided you might enjoy the cream cheese." She excitedly picked one up, laughing as some icing slid down her finger and onto the plate. The roll was hot to the touch, fresh from the oven. She caught Art watching her and blushed a bit as she took a bite of the roll. The warm bread released steam like a geyser as her teeth separated it, and the cream cheese icing felt like heaven on her tongue. "Do you like it? If not, I'm going to have to have a talk with the Pillsbury guy." She tried to speak, but waited as her mouth was too full, and swallowed the lump of food.

"It's great, Art." She turned her lips up sweetly and hugged him with one arm. "You can tell Pillsbury that there's no trouble at all." He laughed heartily and picked up a roll of his own.

"Fantastic!" He moved over to the couch and Mala hurried beside him. She enjoyed the company and was a little unsure if she should act on the feelings in her heart that were pulling her towards him. She was starting to trust him and really wanted to see where this relationship could go. "So did you have a good sleep?" Art put his arm on the top of the couch and looked towards her with subtle smile. She took a bite of the roll and nodded her head.

"It was a good sleep. I dreamt about my mom, though." Art raised an eyebrow. She set the plate on the coffee table and took a deep breath. The dream she had was a strange one, it was like her mom was looking at her through a transparent veil and shouting something that only came out in words. "I think Mom may be trying to communicate with me…"

"What would you want to say to her?"

"I don't know…" She didn't know what to think about her mother anymore, to be honest. The realization that her mother had not willingly given her up was startling enough. "I guess maybe I'd ask her what drove her to insanity in her last days. Why she didn't try to fight for me. Why she let the Lamont family keep me."

"Maybe she didn't know." He took a bite of his roll and set the plate beside hers. "You could always ask her…" She raised an eyebrow and started to open her mouth to say something, but there was no response that came to her mind. "I have one of those soul-disk things, Mala. I know you have questions for your mother, and I'm sure she could answer every one of them."

"I don't know, Art." She liked the thought of it, and it was tempting, due to her desires to know more about the woman. "She tried to kill the King, if we brought her back…"

"Ah, she tried to kill both the King and Mr. Bransford because she believed she lost it all. At least, that's what I would think." Mala's heart thundered under her ribs and her eyes dipped down to her feet. "From what it sounds like regarding her, she didn't know where you were, thought her sister and parents were dead, and blamed everything on King Brustrum. When I studied up on the history of that whole ordeal, it just seemed like she cracked, like she couldn't take it any longer."

"You really think so?"

"You never know, and then you have that spirit that's been following you…it could very well be her. The disk provides the best opportunity to learn. I wouldn't recommend its use too much, but this is one of those rare exceptions that seems justifiable. I know how important it is for you to know your mother."

"I guess, but I'd just have to think about it…"

Several minutes later, Art was taking a shower, leaving Mala alone in the apartment. She was sitting in Art's room, staring at the soul-disk on his desk. A lump had formed in her throat and a sense of urgency rippled through her body. "I don't know if I should…but I really want to see her…I want to know the answers to my questions." She started to reach for the device, but stopped, thinking hard about what she was about to do. What would she accomplish? What was the benefit of this? What if Tabitha told her that she really didn't want her when she was born? What if Tabitha didn't care about her?

These doubts in her mind kept her from pushing forward, but she simply couldn't resist the magnetic pull. One prick of the finger and she could bring Tabitha back. She heard a noise in the back area of the apartment, possibly Art finishing up the shower, so she paid no mind to it.

Mala took a courageous breath and reached for the disk. Soon the disk was activated and she spoke the name of her mother, then closed her eyes and set the disk down. "I guess we'll see if something happens…" She was too scared of what may come, so she told herself it was crucial to be brave.

"Mala? I thought you were here." Her heart stopped and her eyes widened, Martin's voice fell upon her ears like a poison. She turned to him and gasped at his angered, sweaty face. He was trembling, his cheek bleeding, and his pants stained with blood. "My family wants you back, Mala. You can't just run off like that…"

"Martin, please, just leave me alone."

"I can't just do that Mala, if I do that, we're fucked. I'm sorry."

"Then grow a backbone and tell your family to suck it!" Martin's lips formed a circle as her fists clenched in rage. She took a powerful step forward, surprising herself as she stood up to him. "I'm tired of dealing with you, and your whole family, Martin! I'm with Art now! I don't care about you or your family, got it? I want to be free."

"Don't we all?" He grabbed her wrist and yanked her back, causing her to yell out. She heard Art scream out from the bathroom, then he appeared in his red bathrobe, charging at Martin like a bull. Martin growled and narrowed his eyes. "You act like I have a goddamn choice!"

"You do have a choice, but now it's too late," replied a mature woman's voice. Everyone froze in place and slowly looked back, standing in front of the soul disk was a tall woman with short cut brown hair. She had a black leotard and narrow eyes. Her wrists bore the traditional wrist blades. She reached up and felt of her hair, growling as her eyes flicked to the ceiling. "You give me back my wrist blades, but you don't give me my hair? Come on!" She clenched her eyes shut, and her brown hair began to grow long once more, brushing at her heels. She took a deep breath and smirked. "Much better. Now Martin Lamont, if you please…take your hands off my daughter!"

"Shit!" Martin released Mala and stepped back, trembling as the woman stepped forward. Mala eyed her with quivering lips, whimpering as she searched within for something to say to her. Tabitha narrowed her eyes and folded her arms over.

"Mala, do you realize you just used the soul disk to bring back an earthbound ghost?" Earthbound? What did that mean then, that she was different than typical spirits? Tabitha slanted her eyes and growled. "In other words you just did what the soul-disks were created for…I can stay here until my unfinished work is finished."

"U-Unfinished? Please tell me that doesn't mean killing the king," Mala pleaded. Tabitha scoffed and closed her eyes.

"I was the royal protector, it was my job to protect the royal family. My job to protect Frankie's family…I failed when Brustrum…" She clenched her fists and started to growl dangerously. "We'll talk later Mala sweetie, but I will tell you my unfinished work. I wanted to find you." Mala gasped. She moved her hands to her chest and watched as Martin took a slow step backwards. "I had a feeling it was the Lamont family that took you, but I had no proof…but I swore that I would find you, and that I would singlehandedly bring the Lamont family to extinction!"

Martin screamed as Tabitha grabbed his neck and slammed him against the wall. She brought her free blade to his forehead, eyeing him like prey. "Please!" Martin clenched his eyes shut, trembling. "I know what I deserve, but please, I didn't want it to be like this."

"You had two paths Martin. Had you never been involved with your family…when you let my daughter go the first time, had you strayed from your family and not been a slave to them…I would skip over you as the angel of death does. However…since you're still their slave, the only way to free you now, you must perish just as they will…for ever hurting my baby, and for holding my sister, my brother-in-law, and their children…for holding the royal family…I will kill the Lamont family and redeem my last moments on earth."

Tabitha threw Martin out of the room, then kicked him hard in the side, sending him rolling into the living room. Mala quickly followed her mother out of the room and watched with shock as Tabitha began a slow walk to Martin. He moved onto hands and knees and looked up at her, tears in his eyes. "I'm a very pissed off ghost, Martin. Also, being earthbound, I've just been given flesh and can remain here much longer than an hour…until my work is complete. Do you know what that means, Martin? It means…you just entered a game of cat and mouse, and I'm the cat. Guess who the mouse is."

Martin slowly rose to his feet and looked to the door, shivering. "You're letting me run?" Tabitha shrugged her shoulders.

"I need to talk to my daughter, but mark my words Martin…I'm going come after you and your family. I will play with them as a cat plays with her toy." Tabitha took a lunging step forward, shouting for Martin to run. He wasted no time in fleeing the apartment. Tabitha's eyes glinted in the light and her smirk curled upwards. "Lamonts…your death has arrived…"

Tabitha's here! We've seen what Aunt Erin's like, what pain Martin goes through. To him the death to come might be glorified, he has no one to live for any longer, but his wish was to see his family die first so that he would know their threat wouldn't exist any longer. Let's see what Tabitha does, and let me know your observations here.